Danni’s birthday a delight

Danni Carrera Beanz, the therapy dog at Jelly Beanz, celebrated her birthday on Wednesday last week. Jelly Beanz works with traumatised and abused children.

“It’s funny, I don’t feel old at all. Is twelve old for a dog? Can you believe it… Twelve! Twelve months that is, hehehehe,” chuckled Danni.

TygerBurger relies on a dog-guru to translate everything Danni says.

While Danni was showered with gifts ranging from nibbles to toys, the adorable Newfoundland dog’s comment seemed brief: “Bark! Bark!”

Our dog-guru translates it as: “Oh, my. How time has flown! Just the other day I was born as one of ten little pups near Somerset West. I still remember the first time I met my owner, Jelly Beanz’s Edith Kriel (“human” for short). I was identified by the breeder as being particularly lovable and snugly, and was kept aside especially for my human. When I saw her I did what came naturally! I snuggled! Oh! That first time I buried my head in her warm embrace was heavenly.”

Danni stared expectantly at the crowd after her monologue.

They just continued being jolly… Not even one person was moved to tears with her touching tale!

Danni tried again.

“Howl! Bark!”

People just laughed.

Our translator was not surprised to see a puzzled look on Danni’s face.

“Right there Danni elaborated a bit on what the non-profit organisation (NPO) in Table View does and what her role is at Jelly Beanz, so when people laughed it confused her,” says the dog-guru.

He continues: “I believe TygerBurger recently wrote about it in the article entitled ‘Kids get help from Danni dog’. Just in case you missed it, here is what Danni actually said just now: ‘Do you people ever listen? I just told you how my human’s embrace felt like home. What if I told you more about Jelly Beanz? That is no laughing matter.

“The NPO endeavours to provide emotional support to children and families who have experienced trauma and abuse. My human Edith is a social worker and her friend Marita Rademeyer is a clinical psychologist. They have been working in the field of abuse and trauma for many years and started Jelly Beanz Inc in 2009. Last year they recruited me to help children open up and share painful memories. The children find me comforting.’”

In the previous TygerBurger article, Edith asked the community to help her cover the costs of feeding Danni, and the response was amazing.

According to Edith, the company Pack Leader Pet Products reacted to the article and now sponsors all the dog food Danni can eat.

When Danni first saw the bags of food she said: “Bark? Bark! Bark! Bark! Grrrr!”

This apparently translates to “For me? Cool!”

Edith adds people regularly stop her while Danni walks her around the block.

“They would inevitably ask me whether this is the Danni dog,” laughs Edith.

“There is only one Danni dog, human,” barks the precocious furball.

Edith says people can now either help Danni by buying her more presents or, more importantly, help Jelly Beanz in a way only they can – with their unique God-given talents.

Danni suddenly looked around with bright eyes. She has undoubtedly just had an epiphany!

“Bark, bark, bark… Bark!”

Our translator’s mouth hangs open for a moment, before he runs out of the room yelling that it all suddenly makes sense.

Whatever Danni said changed his life.

This newspaper now needs a new translator. Please send your applications in English and Doglish to andre.bakkes@tygerburger.co.za.

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